Archives reading room closed Nov. 27

 

The Archives & Special Collections Reading Room will be closed on Wednesday, November 27.

 

 

USD Libraries Celebrate One-Year Anniversary of Partnership with the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project

 Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), CWRGM is an ambitious undertaking that provides insights into the diverse experiences of Americans during one of the most transformative periods in the nation’s history.

 The University of South Dakota Libraries are celebrating the one-year anniversary of their partnership with the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi (CWRGM).

CWRGM aims to make a collection of over 20,000 documents, spanning from 1859 to 1882, freely available online at cwrgm.org.

Comprised of handwritten letters by people of all backgrounds, including freed people and women, that were sent to the governors of Mississippi during the Civil War and Reconstruction, CWRGM is a robust repository of digitized archival documents with metadata, transcriptions, subject tags, annotations, educational resources, datasets and more.

Under the co-direction of Lindsey R. Peterson, Ph.D., digital humanities assistant professor of practice at USD, and Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D., of Mississippi State University, CWRGM has employed and trained two interns and nine undergraduate and graduate students over the past year, providing students with hands-on education and experience in digital archiving.

"Working with CWRGM has been immensely rewarding. It has significantly improved my teamwork and problem-solving skills, while providing a valuable opportunity to gain hands-on experience as a historian," said senior English and history major Blake Pottebaum.

The student research team plays an integral role in the project’s transcription, tagging and annotation efforts. Additionally, the program recently sponsored USD graduate student Mariah Cosens’ attendance at the Digital Humanities Summer Institute in Victoria, British Columbia.

“This real-world training immerses students in the field of documentary editing and equips them with skills for rewarding careers in the humanities,” remarks Peterson.

Through CWRGM’s involvement in several pilot programs, these student researchers are also at the forefront of artificial intelligence and data sciences in cultural heritage research.

"I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with CWRGM,” said senior history major Emily Williams. “This role has taught me skills in transcription and editing historical documents, all while receiving guidance from dedicated people who are committed to my learning by providing me with space to make mistakes, grow, and learn."

Joining a pilot program with CWRGM’s partner, FromThePage, they provide feedback on AI-generated transcriptions, enhancing the accuracy and utility of these tools.

Alongside their work with FromThePage, Peterson and the University Libraries were recently awarded a two-year Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the NEH, which will fund a USD graduate student to evaluate and refine AI-generated subject tags, further advancing the intersection of digital technology and historical scholarship.

Over the past year, CWRGM has enriched education and workforce preparation not only at USD but also at the K-12 level across the region and nation.

In the last year alone, the project worked with over 250 middle and high school students from South Dakota and Iowa and over 120 students in the New York Historical Society’s Student Historian Internship program.

With ongoing funding from the NHPRC, the University Libraries look forward to continuing this meaningful collaboration, bringing the nation’s Civil War and Reconstruction history to life, fostering greater public engagement with the humanities, supporting scholarly research and offering professional development and training for university students.

Originally posted at https://yote.us/4eA3Gld
 

Library Hours Thanksgiving

 Library Hours Thanksgiving

Nov 26-27 7:30 am - 5 pm
Nov 28-30 Closed
Dec 1 Noon-10pm

RED Readership October 2024

In October, USD RED had 12291 full-text downloads and 877 new submissions were posted, bringing the total works in the repository to 2774. University of South Dakota scholarship was read by 1167 institutions across 139 countries. 

The most popular papers were:
A Criminological Analysis of Notorious Serial Killers in the United States (1223 downloads)
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/156

Application of Leininger’s Culture Care Theory in Family Medical History (493 downloads)
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/43

The Parentification of Eldest Daughters (270 downloads)
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis/244


The most popular publications were:
Honors Thesis (6686 downloads)
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis
Dissertations and Theses (2352 downloads)
https://red.library.usd.edu/diss-thesis
South Dakota Law Review (1302 downloads)
https://red.library.usd.edu/sdlrev